Method of making tiles



l. May l, 1923. I 1,453,382 D. D'ALEssANDRo ET Al.

Filed Nov. 5, 1922 Patented May l, 1923.

@Nlil STATES isaiasi narrar orifice.,

DOMINICK DLESSANDRO AND RAFFAELE PACE, 0F QUINCY, lvASSAGI-IUSEITS; SAID PACE ASSIGNOR TO SAID DALESSAITDRQ METHOD OF MAKING TILES.

Original application filed March 1, 1921, Serial No. 448,900. Dvidedand this application filed November 3, 1922. Serial No. 598,720. i

1/ o @ZZ whom. it may concern.'

Be it known that we. DOMINICK DArns- SANDRO and RAFFAELE PACE, respectively a .citizen of the United States and a subject of the King of Italy, and residents of Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Making Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

The present application is a division lof application Serial No. 448,900, filed March 1, 1921.

This invention relates toA methods of manu facturing cement or concrete articles, like tiles, and it has for its object to improve upon present-day methods of the above-designated character, to the endvthat a superior article may be produced more economically and eii`- c'iently.

With this end in View, the invention consists of the improved method a preferred embodiment of whichv is hereinafter described, Villustrated in the acconipanying` drawings, and defined in the appended claims. i f

In the drawings, Fig. 1 a lvertical section, illustrating the present invention ;.Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the removal of a tile from the mold; Fig. 3 is a, plan View of the removable walls of a mold that may be used in carrying out the method ofthe present invention; Fig. 4L is a similar View of the bottom wall of the mold; Fig. 5 is a view of a color pattern; and F ig. 6 is a section taken i upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The illustrative mold comprises a plate2, the upper face et of which constitutes the bottom wall of the mold, and two members 6 and 8, the inner faces 10 and 12 of which constitute the side-walls of the mold. The member 6 is provided with extensions 111 and 16, 'and the member Swith similar extensions 18 and 20V thatrespectively abut against the extensions 14C and 16 of the member 6. A bolt22 loosely, secures the extensions 141 and 18 together to permit a slight pivotal movement of the members 6 and 8v towards and from each other.- The yextension 20 is'perforated, and through the perforation 24 eX*v tends aflug' 26 vmounted upon thev extension 16. The vlug v26 isv preferably a bolt, as shown. A cam lever 28 is pivoted to the movable as a the mold, and are asA readily returnable free end 30 of the lug 26 and is adapted to engage the perforatedextension 20 to force the members 6 and 8 towards each otherand secure them firmly in such position.

The side edges 32 `of the plate 2 are provided with lugs 34C upon which the members 6 and r8v are adapted to rest.` As will be clear more particularly from Fig. 1, the lugs are positioned below the bot-tom wallet of the mold, so that the sidel walls 10v and 12 may firmly and tightly engage the side edges 32 when-the members 6 and 8 are forced towards each other by the cam lever 28. 4A pivotal movement of thecam lever 28 in the opposite direction will permit slight pivotal separation of the side walls 10 and 12, about the bolt 22, away from the side edges permitting the-removal lof the members 6 and 8- from the lugse. VThe members 6 and 8, and t-he side walls 10 and 12 of thel thereon, are thus. easily re mold formed unit fromthe bottoml wall of thereto. y 4 y The term tile-v willl Abe employed throughout-the specitication and theclaims todesignate tiles and ysimilar cement ar,-4

ticles, whether or not used as tiles. To manufacture tilesaccordingto the method of the present invention, the sidewalls of themold are first assembled, as the bottom wall. p of liquid cement, indicated in the `drawings by a heavy line 36, is then poured yupon the bottom wall. This surfacelayer should not be too thin, because it would then wear very rapidly away from the face of the completed tile; and it-ca'n not be too thick, else the different colored portions of this surfacelayer (if different `colors are employed)4 would overrun into one another when the vpattern shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is removed,

y For lack of a better f' term, this thin surface layer36 will lhereinas described below.'

after be referred to in the specificationy and the claims as a film-like f layer. i Care should be taken to-spread this film-like, surface layer 36 uniformly on thebottom wally 4, as by oscillating the mold back and forth4 several times until the layer ,has spready evenly. This film-lil eV layer is preferably; composed` of suitable.4 proportions ofx very` tine. cement with a plentiine sand land Very y water or` other liquid added ful proportion of above described, upon A very thin surface layer tom wall 4 of the mold.

7 sand, is then introduced over thereto to render it very liquid. The term cement will, for brevity, be employed throughout the specification and the claims to denote cement or sand or any suitable mixture of them or their equivalents? and the term liquid cement will be similarly employed to denote the same with a liberal proportion of water or other liquid added thereto. This layer may ybe colored, if desired, by the addition of some suitable coloringmaterial.

A thin layer of line, very dry, granular cement, consisting, preferably, of a mixture of two parts fine cement and one part line the liquid cement. This layer is indicated in Fig. l by the numeral 38. The dry layer 38 absorbs the liquid of the liquid layer 86, but the ingredients thereof are so fine as not to protrude noticeably through the liquid layer to the surface. The surface of the completed tile would be marred by such protrusion if the layer 38 were composed of coarse materials, particularly if the surface layer 36 is colored.

r-*i layer 40 of coarse, moist cement, constituted preferably of two parts coarse san and one part coarse cement, is then introduced over the layer 3S of the line dry cement. The layer 40 is thick, according` to the dimensions of the desired tile. cover plate 42, having an upper mold wall 44, is placed in position upon the coarse layer 40.r and is driven home under great pressure.

The cam lever 28 is then manipulated to permit removal of themembers 6 and 8. after which the cover plate 42 is removed by means of handles 54 that are integrally secured to the cover plate. The pressed tile, though well formed is still somewhat weak, so requires support during its removal from the bottom wall 4. rlhis support'is preferably obtained by placing over it a previously completed tile 5G. A plate 5S positioned along` ther edge of the tile, and grasped in one hand. as shown in Fig. a handle that is integral with one of the lugs 34 is grasped in the other, and a' sidewise thrust in the direction of the arrow is exerted by the one hand towards the other hand to thrust the tile sidewise off the bot- The plate 2 may, if desired, be tilted at such time, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The tile is then allowed to rest fora period,'preferably upon the tile 56, after which it is immersed in water and allowed to harden or set properly.

The use of the liquid, film-like, surface layer 36 is particularly desirable in the preparation of tiles having,` smooth or colored surfaces. rlhe liquid layer, however. has a tendency to stick to the bottom wall 4 ofthe mold, causing breaking` up of the surface of the tile when it is attempted to 5 remove the tile from the mold. The bottom wall 4 must, therefore, be suitably lubricated or oiled before the liquid layer is poured thereon. Lubricants, however, are liable to cause grease spots upon the surface of the tile, and they have a tendency to contract, causingv the surface of the hardened tile to crack. According,` to the present invention, these difiiculties are eliminated by the use of a lubricant containing a z(greaseabsorbing element, such as turpentine or kerosene, and an element for preventing the formation of cracks in the surface of the completed tile, as olive oil.

In the manufacture of vtiles the surfaces of which are variously colored,k it is essential that the lines of separation between the colors be sharp' and that the designs be properly centered. The design may, for .eX- ample, be like that of the pattern shown in Fig. 5, or it may be very much simpler, as a single dividing line. The pattern is placed upon the bottom wall 4 and a film-like surface layer of differently colored liquid cements is poured upon the bottom wall between the walls of the pattern. The color between the walls 64 may, for example, be

d red; that between the walls 66 green; that along the sides, between and under the walls 68, white; and that along the corners, be-

tween the walls 70, of still another color. After the film-like surface layer has-been uniformly spread `over the bottom wall, as

vabove described, the pattern is removed to permitlthe differently colored liquid cement to flow towards each other and form sharp, dividing lines of demarcation. The rest of the process is as above described.

. It is essential that the pattern be removed before the fine layer 38 is applied, for if the latter is introduced while the pattern is still in position, the dry cement, after absorbing` liquid from the film-like, liquid, surfacev layer, will stick to the walls of the pattern, so that upon removal ofthe pattern, the differently colored layers will flow into one another, forming a jagged line of demarcation.

To correctly center thedesign, the pattern is provided with exterior' walls 72 of dimensions equal to the dimensions of the mold, so that the walls 72 may contact with the side walls l() and 12 of the mold,lmaintaining the pattern properly Vpositioned within the mold. Bars 74 rigidly connect the walls of the pattern `to the exterior walls 72, but are spaced fromthe bottom wall 4, as will be clear from Fig. 6, so as not to interfere with the flow of the colored filmlike layer under the bars 74.

It will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that the details of the invention ymay be varied from what is shown and described herein, and such variations are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

` having bottom and side walls that co-mprises successively positioning a pattern upon the bottom wall with a portion thereof in contact with a sidewall to maintain the pattern properly positioned within the'm'old, pouring a film-like surface layer of differently colored liquid cements upon the bottom wall between the walls of the pattern, removing the pattern to permit the differently colored liquid cements to flow towards each other and form sharp dividing lines of demarcation, introducing a layer of fine, dry cement over the liquid cement to cause it to absorb the liquid, introducing a layer of coarse moist cement over the dry cement, and subjecting the whole to pressure.

3. The method of making tiles in a mold having bottom and removable side walls that comprises successively lubricating the bottom wall of a mold with a lubricant com prising a grease-absorbing element and an element for preventing theA formation of cracks in the surface of the completed tile, positioning a pattern upon the lubricated bottom wall with portions thereof in contact with the side walls to maintain the pattern properly positioned within the mold, pouring a film-like surface layer of differently colored liquid cements upon the lubricated bottom wall between `the walls of the pattern, removing the pattern to permit the differently colored liquid cements to flow towards each other and form sharp dividing lines of demarcation, introducing a layer of fine, dry cement over the liquid cement to cause it to absorb the liquid, introducing a layer of coarse moist cement over the dry cement, subjecting the whole to pressure to produce a tile, removingthe side Walls of Y the mold, thrusting the tile sidewise off the bottom wall, and mmersing the tile in water to causethe tile to absorb the water and harden properly.

Zl. The method of making tiles that comprises successively pouring a film-like sur- I face layer of liquid cement upon the bottom wall of a-mold, introducing a layer of fine granular cement over the liquid cement, introducing a layer of coarse cementover the layer of granular cement, and subjecting the whole to pressure.

5. The method of making tiles that comprises successively positioning a pattern upon the bottom wall of a mold, pouring a film-like surface layer of differently colored liquid cements upon the bottom wall between the walls of the pattern, removing the pattern to permit the differently colored liquid cements to flow towards each other and form sharp dividing lines of demarca.- tion, introducing a layer of fine granular cement over the liquid cement, introducing a layer' of coarse cement over the layer ofl `granular cement and subjecting the whole to pressure. p

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 2nd day ofl November, 1922.

DOMINICK DALESSANDRO. RAFFAELE PACE. 

